Snow-plow.



No. 635,993. Patented OSt. 3|,- I899.

R. A. BROWN.

S N 0 W P L 0 W (Application filed Feb. 11, 1899.)

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Patented Oct. 3|, I899.

R. A. BROWN.

SNOW PLOW (Application filed Feb. 11, 1899) (No M el.) 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 D I a $3 ,3

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No. 635,993. Patented Oct. 3|, I899.

R. A. BROWN.

.SNOW PLOW (Application'filed Feb. 11, 1899.)

3 sheetsshet 3,

INVENTOR WITNESSES dmm 7 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ROBERT A. BROWN, OF BRIDGEPORT, CONNECTICUT, ASSIGN OR OF TWELVE TWENTY-FIFTI-IS TO JEREMIAH D. TOOMEY, JR., AND JAMES T. LYNCH, OF SAME PLACE.

SNOW-PLOW.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 635,993, dated October 31, 1899. Application filed February 11, 1899. Serial No. 705,274. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, ROBERT A. BROWN, a subject of the Queen of Great Britain, residing at Bridgeport, county of Fairfield, State vation of the machine.

of Connecticut, have invented a new and useful Snow-Plow, of which the following is a specification.

My invention has for its object to produce a machine for removing snow from railroadtracks, which machine is of the nature commonly termed a snow-plow.

The principal object of my invention is to produce a machine of this type or snow-plow which is adapted to take the snow from the tracks and the ground adjacent thereto at adj ustable elevations above the surface and to throw it either to one side or the other when used on a double-track railroad or to equally distribute the snow on both sides, when desired, of a single-track railroad.

My invention further comprises a construction whereby the entire plow may be reversed end for end on its truck and locked in either position.

I have produced this invention with particular reference to electric or other mechanically-operated street-railroads but it is to be understood that the machine is not restricted to such use, but is adapted for general use on all railroads, it being adapted to be connected to the front of the motor-car or other locomo tive and to be pushed in advance thereof, or, if preferred, an electric motor may be carried by the snow-plow itself.

To these ends my invention consists in the construction and combination of parts 'substantially as hereinafter described and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a plan view of a snow-plow embodying my invention, the upper platform or roof being removed. Fig. 2 represents a vertical sectional view taken longitudinally through the machine,some of the parts, however, being shown in elevation. Fig. 3 represents a front ele- Fig. 4 represents a rear elevation of the same.

In said drawings the same or similar parts are represented throughout the figures by the same reference characters.

The truck 1 may be of any suitable con struction and supports a circular track 2 for antifriction-balls 3 and a central vertical upright or spindle 4. The body 5 of the machine is substantially rectangular, but has open sides, and is pivoted upon the spindle 4, and is provided on its bottom with a circular track 6 to cooperate with the track 2 and balls 3 in forming an antifriction or ball bearing to enable the body of the plow to be readily reversed or turned end for end on the truck.

At each end of the truck is a suitable coupling-box 7 to enable the truck to be coupled to and in front of the motor. (Not shown.) Underneath the box 7 are guides 8 for a bolt 9,between the rear end of which and the truckframe is a spring 10, adapted to project the bolt. Underneath the forward extension of the plow is a keeper 11, adapted to receive either of the bolts 10, according to which way the body of the plow is to be turned on the truck. To enable the bolts to be retracted by an employee without going under the plow,

the said bolts have suitable flexible connections, such as chains 12, (indicated by the broken line in Fig. 2,) with a disk 13, mounted on the spindle 4 within thetruck-frame, said disk having two pins 14, to which the chains are connected, and having also a bar or handle 15, projecting nearly to the side of the truck. By means of this handle 15 an em ployee may oscillate the disk 13 sufficiently to cause its pins 14 to draw on the chains and retract both bolts. A slight movement of the body on the axis or spindle 4 moves the keeper out of the line of the bolt which has just been engaged therewith, and the handle may then be released and the machine swung on its pivot, rotating freely on the circular track until the keeper is engaged by the bolt at the other end of the truck.

The sides of the body 5 project forward paring an inclined chute of uniform area from the front opening to the body 5. The plates 17 and 18 do not extend as far to the front as the side walls 16. To the front edge of the inclined bottom of the chute is pivoted a shovelplate 20, having a thin sharp front edge and having flanges 21 at its ends fitting closely inside of the side walls 16.

The top or roof of the body 5 is extended forward to a point at 22, while the sides 23 slope downward on each side of the pointed extension to form a plow-shaped upper portion of the forward extension from the body, which upper plow-shaped portion is adapted to divide and throw to each side of the track the upper part of a deep snow or drift. The lower and more heavily packed snow passes up the inclined bottom 17 of the chute onto the platform of the body portion.

To the center of the shovel-plate 20 is secured the lower end of a thin vertical rod 25, so placed that it will afford the least obstruction to the passage of snow up the chute. The upper end of the rod 25 passes through the inclined top 19 and is pivoted to the end of the short arm of a lever 26, which lever is in turn pivoted on a rod 27, extending between and supported by the sloping sides 23. The said lever extends upwardly and rearwardly through an opening in the roof or platform of the machine and is provided with a handle 28, by means of which an employee standing 011 said platform may operate the lever to raise and lower the shovel-plate. To the said lever is pivoted a latch 29, which may be of any ordinary type and adapted to engage the teeth of a segment 30.

Suitable posts 31 and a rail 32 may be mounted on the platform of the machine, as indicated in the drawings, for the safety of the employees.

Atriangular-shaped deflector is mounted to be adjusted laterally within the body 5 to either divide the snow which passes up the inclined chute, so that said snow will be thrown both sides, or so that the snow may be thrown only to one side. Said deflector is secured to an upright post 34, which post is mounted to be rotated in bearings formed in the floor and roof of the body, and the lower end of said post is provided with a ring 35, having a balltrack in its upper surface, between which and a similarly-grooved ring 36, secured under the floor of the body, a series of balls 37 is placed to form an antifriction-bearing of large diameter at this end to resist a tendency of the forward end of the deflector to bind on the floor of the body. The upper end of the post is fitted to a vertical bearing 38, formed at one end of a casting- 30, secured to the platform of the body. The said casting is provided with a horizontal stud 40, on which is mounted a sleeve 41, having a pinion 42 and a hand-wheel 43. The pinion 4-2 meshes with an idler-pinion 44, mounted on a stud 45 under the platform of the body, said idler-pinion 44- projecting through a slot or opening in said platform. A toothed segment 46 is formed on a horizontal flange extending at the rear of the deflector and is engaged by said idler-pinion. It will therefore be understood that the operator or controller standing on the platform of the body may not only adjust the elevation of the shovel so as to take the snow from close to the rails, but he may also adjust the deflector so as 'to either divide the snow taken up by the chute or deflect it all to one side, as hereinbefore described.

The operation of the several parts of the mechanism having been described in connection with the description of the details of construction, further reference to the operation of the machine as a Whole is unnecessary.

I claim 1. A snow-plow comprising in its construction an inclined chute to receive and elevate snow close to the tracks, and a dividing or plow portion above the lower end of said chute to divide snow above the plane of that acted on by the chute.

2. A snow-plow comprising in its construction a body having open sides and closed at the top and bottom, an inclined chute adapted to elevate the snow and having a top and side walls to keep the snow confined as it passes up the incline, an adjustable deflector located between the top and bottom of the body and adapted to direct the snow from the chute through one or both of the open sides of the body, and a dividing or plow portion above the lower end of the chute and in the horizontal plane of the deflector.

3. In a snow-plow, the combination with the truck, of the body having a permanent pivotal connection therewith and provided with snow-displacing means, and locking mechanism for securing the body with the snow-displacing means projecting from either end of the truck.

4. In a snow-plow, the combination with the truck 1 having the circular track 2, of the body 5 connected with the truck by means of a spindle 4, and having the circular track 6, antifriction-balls 3 between said tracks 2 and G, the bolts 9 carried by the truck and a keeper 11 adapted to receive either one of said bolts and carried bya portion of the machine that is connected With said body.

5. In a snow-plow, the combination with the bodyand snow-displacing mechanism carried thereby, of a truck to which said bodyis pivoted, a bolt at each end of said truck, a keeper for either of said bolts carried by the plow-frame, the disk 13 pivotally supported under the truck and having pins 14 and handle 15, and connections between said pins and the bolts whereby the latter may be retracted by a lateral movement of the handle.

6. In a snow-plow, the combination with an inclined chute for elevating the snow, of the shovel-plate 2O hingedly connected with the lower front opening of the chute and having flanges 21 at the ends thereof, the vertical rod 25 attached to the shovel-plate and extending vertically across the chute and having one of its thin edges presented to the front of the chute, a lever 26 connected with the upper end of the rod 25, and means for locking the said lever in adjusted position.

7. In a snow-plow, the combination with upper and lower platforms, the casting 39 on the upper platform and having a vertical bearing 38, a chute for delivering snow to the lower platform, the post 34 having its upper end in the bearing 38 and having ball-bearing connections with the lower platform, the tapering deflector 33 mounted on said post between the upper and lower platforms, and means for swinging the deflector on said post. 8. In a snow-plow, the combination with the body having upper and lower platforms, of a-chute for delivering snow to the space between said platforms, the deflector 33 pivotally supported on the space between said platforms and having the segment-gear 46 at the rear of its pivotal support, and gearing meshing wit-h said segment for laterally adjusting the deflector.

9. In a snow-plow, the combination with the body having upper and lower platforms, of a chute for delivering snow to the space between said platforms, the deflector 33 pivotally supported in the space between said platforms and having the segment-gear 46 at the rear of its pivotal support, the casting 39 on the upper platform and having the stud 40, the pinion 42 and hand-wheel 43'n1ounted on said stud, and the idler-pinion 44 meshing with said pinion -12 and with the segment 46.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

ROBERT A. BROWN.

Witnesses:

A. M. 'WOOSTER, S. V. HELEY. 

